Radiohead - Creep

Tramps (New York, NY), 06/01/1995

Recorded at New York City's Tramps just three months after the release of their second album, The Bends, experience Radioheadbeginning to push the sonic experimentation envelope. Still two years prior to the group's international breakthrough, OK Computer, this performance captures a less experimental Radiohead, just as they were beginning to break ground in America, when Thom Yorke's singing and songwriting was becoming increasingly cryptic and expressive. As such, this high quality concert recording is a clear indication of how compelling Radiohead could be on stage, even when they were still generally working within a framework of guitar-dominated rock.

Over the course of this performance, Radioheademphasizes The Bends material, performing the album nearly in it's entirety, including all five singles. An additional five numbers, all sourced from the band's debut album, Pablo Honey (including "Creep") flesh out this performance. Despite the bleak depressing nature of much of this material, the band often achieves exalted moments, typified by the final encore of "Street Spirit." Here Yorke ruminates about his own insignificance over Jonny Greenwood's ringing guitar arpeggios, bringing the performance to an ecstatic close with the final lyric line "Immerse your soul in love."